Old Fears
by Mugen Kodachi
Summary: It's the modern era, and Nightmare is back. It's up to the decendants of the old characters and a few new faces to save the world, but can they acomplish that when they're afraid to even fall in love? CHAPTER THREE UP!
1. The Guy On The Plane

Just so everybody knows, the song Akaru's humming is from .hack/SIGN. I think it's called 'Fake Wings', but I have it saved as 'Morning Light' on my computer, so… Yeah, anyway, I didn't write it.

P.S. I edited this chapter! It's not really different at all, but I fixed a bunch of little typos and such... Hope it's better!

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_'Shine, bright morning light,_

_Now in the air the spring is coming._

_Sweet, blowing wind,_

_Singing down the hills and valleys…'_

Akaru was humming that song again, without thinking. Her iPod was playing 'Nobody's Home' by Avril Lavigne, but she still hummed the lullaby her mother had always sung.

She focused herself on writing 'I wanna go home' in letters that looked like old stone-work covered in ivy in the leather-bound sketch book she had received from her parents several years before. She wrote almost every thought she had in it. Bits and scraps of poems she thought of, vague outlines of stories she might or might not write, doodles, sketches… She carried it everywhere, along with a huge pack of colored pencils and several different colored pens.

Once that was done, she looked across the guy next to her out the window. It made her head spin, so she turned and looked at the other people on the plane. It seemed like every one of them was Japanese. It figured, though, on a plane bound for Japan. The atmosphere seemed to close in on her, laughing in her face and telling her how much she fit in, how alike she was. She'd always stood out, with her jet-black hair and almond-shaped almost-black eyes. Now she looked just like the rest of them.

_'Keep your eyes on me,_

_Now we're on the edge of hell,_

_Dear my love,_

_Sweet morning light,_

_Now you've gone much farther, too far.'_

'_How the hell did that ever put me to sleep without giving me nightmares?' _she demanded of herself as she threw her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She knew full well that it was because her mother had been the one singing it, and everything her strong-willed mother did gave her comfort. Her mother had never allowed her father to sing it, as he had been so horrible at it. Akaru grinned slightly despite herself.

"That's better. I was starting to think I wouldn't see you smile at all on this flight." Akaru snapped up in her seat and opened her eyes. She had _not_ realized that he was watching her. She opened her mouth, then closed it again as she could think of nothing to say. Her hand twitched, wanting to turn up the volume on her iPod and ignore him. Instead she reached up and took her headphones out.

"My name is Fujiwara Maxi," he continued. He cocked his head at her when she didn't reply.

"I'm… Ryuujin Akaru," Akaru said after a few seconds. Maxi aimed a wolfish grin at her.

"Your first name doesn't happen to really be Sakaru, does it?" he asked in a joking manner. Akaru glared at him.

"You want to know how it feels to have an iPod jammed up your nose? 'Cause I can do that for you buddy-" Maxi held up a hand and laughed at her.

"I was just kidding. I'll go back to staring out the window now if you want," he offered.

"Have at it, then." Maxi looked a little miffed, but turned to his window and stared out. A few seconds later he sighed heavily. Akaru watched him for a few moments, and then returned to her book. She flipped through it from the beginning, admiring how her sketches improved as she went along.

"Hey, those are really good," Maxi commented. Akaru snapped her book shut. He held up his hands in a defeated manor. "Sorry. But hey, those really are good drawings. Could you draw me?" Akaru instantly imagined a stick figure with a crazy Elvis-like hairdo on fire, and another figure in the gender-defining triangle skirt holding a can labeled 'NAPALM' and a book of matches.

"Fine. But you have to do exactly as I say without protest." Akaru go the feeling that Maxi was about to make a smart comment, but thought better of it. She put her book back into her flapdoozy bag and pulled out a spiral notebook-type sketchbook with the wire spiral at the top and thick, high-quality paper, then fished for her set of charcoal pencils. She carefully opened to a blank page without revealing any of her other drawings.

"Now, I want you to stare out the window. Try to look like you're deep in thought, even though I'm sure that's hard for you." Maxi shot her a dirty look, but did what she said. "Take your right hand and move it up by your face, like you're about to slick back your hair. There. Hold still." Akaru turned her full concentration on the drawing. She still had a bit of difficulty with shadows, but was pleased with the way she had managed to capture the way his hair reflected the light.

"There," she announced when she was done, tearing the page out of her book with a flourish and handing it to him. "You do know that I should charge you for that, right?"

"This is… Amazing," Maxi muttered. "But you didn't sign it. Sign it for me!" Akaru rolled her eyes and took it back.

"It's in English," Maxi said, staring at Akaru's hand as she wrote her signature at the bottom of the page, surrounding it with swirls. She returned his frank stare when he looked up from the page and met her eyes.

"Yes, it is."

"I want you to sign it in Japanese!" Maxi's look went straight from 'I'm-stating-the-obvious-and-I-know-it' to 'Mommy-Mommy-I-wanna-puppy-I-swear-I'll-take-care-of-it-_pleeeeeeaaaaaaasssseeeee!'_ Akaru found herself rolling her eyes again, but scrawling her signature none the less.

"Your handwriting is horrible."

"Oh, yeah? Too bad."

Maxi sighed and started playing with his watch.

_'We changed time zones between here and America, didn't we? I didn't change the time when I switched planes in America either.' _Akaru looked at the digital watch on her wrist. _'It's 5:50 in New Zealand right now… It'll be about 3:00 in Japan when we land.' _She closed her eyes and leaned back against her seat.

"I'm going to leave my watch how it is," She said aloud. "All I have to do is subtract three hours; it won't be that hard to remember."

"Three hours? Are you nuts? The International Date Line is between here and California! You will never keep it straight!" Maxi declared, waving his watch in her face.

"I'm not on California time. I was supposed to be on a flight yesterday straight from New Zealand to Tokyo, but I missed it. Instead they put me a Transfer flight to L.A. I flew from Wellington to L.A., spent the night at the airport, and got on this flight to Tokyo. My watch is on New Zealand time. Therefore, I have no reason to care how your time compares to Japan's," Akaru explained. Maxi just looked confused. Akaru wondered why she had said anything other than her last sentence.

"How can you possibly manage to not have serious jetlag?"

"Caffeine," Akaru admonished. "Lots and lots of caffeine."


	2. Maxi's Family

Many thanks to my friend for the idea for this chapter! And sorry, but it may be a while before I get to update again. I'm leaving for camp soon, and after that I might be going to my dad's, and his computer is dead, so…

This chapter has been edited! It's a bit more thorough than the editing I did on Chapter One, so… But either way, it won't change the plotline, so there's really no reason to re-read it…

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"How is it that you don't get airsick until the last two minutes of the flight?" Akaru demanded in an exasperated tone. Maxi was pale and green, and none too happy about it. Akaru thought it was funny.

"I hate landings," Maxi muttered.

"Come on," she said, offering Maxi her hand to help him out of his chair. "Let's get you something to help your stomach." Maxi shook his head.

"No… I don't trust my stomach enough to get up. Would it be too much trouble to ask you to get it for me?"

Akaru smirked good-naturedly at him. "Okay, but you have to pay me back, got it?" Maxi nodded weakly.

It was easier than Akaru had thought to find a vending machine and get Maxi something that looked like the Japanese equivalent of a Sprite. She sent a mental thanks to her mother for making sure that she was familiar with the Japanese currency.

"Here you go," she announced when she located where she had left Maxi.

"Thank you," he said as he took the can from her. Akaru flopped down in the seat beside him and tried not to giggle. Maxi glanced at her and his expression soured when he saw that she was amused at him. Of course, this did nothing to help his situation, as Akaru burst out laughing as soon as it happened.

"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't laugh," Akaru choked out at last. "It's just that you're so much like my brother…"

"We brothers are all alike, it seems," Maxi replied with a slight smile.

"Maxi!"

Akaru and Maxi both turned towards the girl who had called out. She was young, about fifteen, Akaru guessed.

"Hey Talim! I expected you to be late!" Maxi returned, his smile broadening. Trying to act like he wasn't sick, he stood up and waved to her. Akaru stood up as well. The girl ran to Maxi and threw her arms around his neck. Maxi hugged her back.

"Talim, didn't we tell you not to make a scene!" an older woman demanded as she and a man who Akaru assumed was her husband drew even with the three. The woman looked angry, but the man was smiling in a way that only a father would.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I just haven't seen Maxi in ages…" Talim looked at the ground and shuffled her feet, the very picture of regret. Akaru didn't buy it for a second.

"And who is this young lady, Son?" The man asked, giving Akaru an appraising look. She met his eyes evenly and didn't look away until he broke eye contact to look back at his son. It was an old habit of hers, one that she had learned when her parents were teaching her martial arts.

"Is this that girlfriend you've been telling us about?" his mother asked. Her tone was slightly cold, and she and Talim were shooting Akaru looks that said very clearly that neither of them thought that she would ever be good enough for Maxi. Akaru glanced at Maxi and saw the pain in his eyes. She instantly felt sorry for assuming that he was a shallow, arrogant, vain person.

"No," Maxi said, his voice quieter than it had been earlier. "No, Raven left me awhile ago. I told her that I was moving back to Japan and asked her to come with me, and she announced that she had been having an affair and she wouldn't even leave the city limits for someone like me," he added. Akaru knew about what he felt like. She had a boyfriend who had done almost the same thing to her when she moved from America back to New Zealand. He bluntly had refused to keep a long distance relationship with her and had a new girlfriend within an hour of learning Akaru was moving. Without thinking, she reached out and set a hand on Maxi's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"That little bi-"

"Talim!"

"Well, she is! What kind of person can do that to someone! I swear, if I ever go to America, I'll hunt her down and- and do something really bad to her!" Talim raised her voice. Her face was the picture of how-dare-you-hurt-my-brother anger that only a younger sister could manage. Akaru looked back at Maxi, who was grinning.

_'Talim doesn't even realize how much that helped him,'_ Akaru thought.

"So who is this, Maxi? You still haven't introduced us," Mr. Fujiwara pointed out, carefully changing the subject in the process.

"Oh, this is Ryuujin Akaru. I met her on the plane. She's a very good artist," Maxi motioned towards Akaru, who bowed. "Ryuujin-san, this is my father, Fujiwara Takare, my mother, Fujiwara Fuchio, and my younger sister, Fujiwara Talim." The group all bowed to each other.

"So you're just a friend of my brother?" Talim asked, giving Akaru a warning look.

"Yes. And that's just what I intend to stay," Akaru said calmly. She was a little annoyed at the fact that she had been mistaken for the woman who was, as Talim rightfully had tried to put it, a bitch. "No offence, though," she added, realizing a second too late that he might have taken that as an insult. He really didn't seem to notice.

"We really should be going," Mrs. Fujiwara said as a loud voice announced the exact time over a PA system. "I really don't like being at the air port."

"Yes, we should," Mr. Fujiwara agreed.

"Oh, really? Well, Ryuujin-san, are you going to be picked up by who you're staying with? Because if not, we could take you there, couldn't we, Dad?" Maxi asked, a hint of a pleading tone entering his voice.

"I really would hate to impose myself on you… It's true that I didn't tell my grandmother I was going to be late, but I just figured that I could get a taxi…," Akaru explained, sincerely not wanting to be a burden.

"Nonsense! I won't hear of it! Come along, dear," Mr. Fujiwara proclaimed, taking Akaru's elbow and leading her along with the rest of his family towards the exit.


	3. LingSheng Su And Its Students

I apologize for how long it took me to update this time! And for the length… It takes up about 5 pages in Microsoft Word… So, anyway, I've noticed that a lot of people use this space for disclaimers, and I decided that for once, I would too. So, I do not own the following items that have been mentioned in my story: The songs at the beginning (Nobody's Home and FALSE Wings. I had the name slightly wrong…), iPods, Elvis, Napalm, flapdoozy bags, Japan, New Zealand, America, California, L.A., Tokyo, Wellington, Sprite, or the International Date Line. And just so everyone knows, Akaru's last name means 'Dragon God'. Am I forgetting anything?

Kilik: You don't own us.

Mugen: Yes, I do.

Kilik: No, you don't.

Mugen: Yes I do. I bought you for Gamecube and PS2. ((waves disk case in Kilik's face)) I totally own you.

Kilik: Why do I bother..?

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CHAPTER THREE

Akaru decided quickly that she hated the school uniform. The skirt was FAR too short, and the shirt came up so easily that Akaru was afraid to raise her hand. She wore tight socks that came up to her knees, and wasn't allowed to keep the earring she always wore in the upper part of her right ear in during school hours, nor the three in a row along the lobe of the same ear. She was allowed to wear the thin white-gold chain necklace that bore a crescent moon that her mother had given her when she was ten, but only because she had cried and begged the principal to let her.

The school itself wasn't that bad. The students seemed nice enough, though none of them had actually spoken to her yet. Akaru got the impression that she would have to make the first move and introduce herself, but for the moment she was fine with having only herself to rely on. Maxi had given her a business card with his phone number and address on it, and she had let him keep the piece of paper that her grandmother's address was written on, but she hadn't had or known the phone number. Her grandmother had regarded her coldly, as if she wanted no memory of her daughter staying in her country, let alone her very own house. The staff of the place took the same tone as the mistress of the ryokan. Akaru was nothing more than an unwanted guest.

Akaru stifled a yawn and stared blankly at the board. The teacher was saying something about the Bakumatsu No Douran, in a flat, monotone, dry, boring voice that no teacher other than a history teacher could ever manage. She hoped she looked vaguely interested, at least…

Then, all of a sudden, a bell rang and the teacher dismissed them for lunch. On her way out the door, the teacher stopped her and asked her to try to make friends at lunch. Akaru dutifully agreed, though she had no intention to talk to anyone who didn't talk to her first.

When she got to the school's courtyard, she found a comfortable place on the grass under a large tree and sat herself so that she didn't feel too overly exposed. When that was done, she opened her copy (in English. It made her feel wonderfully defiant) of_ I, Coriander_ by Sally Gardner and contented herself to read for the entire free period. She hadn't had time to pack lunch that morning anyway.

"How strange, to transfer schools in your last year," a girl muttered to her friend as they walked by Akaru.

"Yeah," her friend replied, "At least she won't be competition to get into any of the decent schools." They both laughed at this, apparently thinking it quite funny. Akaru glanced up at them and imagined how nice it would be to chuck her book at one of them.

"They aren't even worth the energy," Akaru muttered to herself.

"No, they really aren't." A tall girl flopped down next to Akaru and grinned at her. "My name's Sheng Xianlian. I want you to call me Xianlian, though, because I'm sick of all these annoying formalities."

"O…kay," Akaru said hesitantly. She got the feeling that Xianlian was the kind of person that would doom any hopes of ever being accepted by most of the school crowd. Akaru glanced at the group that had laughed at her. Perfect. Xianlian was perfect. "Ryuujin Akaru. Call me Akaru."

"Oooh… Ryuujin? Really? Cool!" Another girl flopped herself down on the ground beside Xianlian and opened a lunch container she had with her. She was about the same height as Akaru, but with long red-brown hair and golden-brown eyes.

"Oooh, sweet, Mina, you made Yunsung cook again," Xianlian exclaimed, reaching across the girl's lap and plucking a rice ball out of the container.

"Well, someone's gotta make their brother cook for them," Mina replied.

"Kilik has enough on his hands without having to cook as well. Besides, I enjoy cooking," Xianlian defended herself.

"Whatever. But they, at least you don't have to worry about him starving after he moves out. Did you hear that Chai-kohai has set her eyes on him?"

"That little squirt had better not come near him while I'm around. He needs to concentrate on school, not girls." Akaru burst out laughing as Xianlian said this.

"I remember saying the same thing about my brother," she said by way of explanation. Xianlian smiled.

"You've got a brother? Does he go to school here?" Mina asked, strangely interested.

"No, he…" Akaru stopped talking. "Y'know what? I don't feel so good. I'm going to go see the nurse and see if she'll let me go home." Akaru stood up as Mina and Xianlian exchanged dumbfounded looks.

Akaru had no intention of going home when she left the school. She was sick of her grandmother's constant disapproval and the servants talking down to her. She didn't know what they'd do to her if she told them that she was sick, but she had the sinking suspicion that it would not be pleasant. She turned left at the first intersection she came to, then went whatever way caught her fancy as she walked along. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she was going to get hopelessly lost, but she didn't really care.

_'Akaru…'_ the voice slipped into her head, unnoticed at first. _'Akaru…'_ It was a little bit louder this time. Akaru stopped dead in her tracks, listening. Something about the four-way intersection unnerved her.

_'Akaru…'_ She spun around, looking for the source of the voice. She didn't see anyone. Anyone at all. The streets around her had become suddenly and completely empty.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

_'They call me Nightmare. Soul Edge told me to contact you.'_

"What do you want?"

_'Only your help, Akaru.'_

"What if I don't want to help you? What if I don't want to get involved with you?"

_'We can give you everything you want, Akaru. We can do anything. All we ask is for your help."_

"No way. There's nothing I want you can give me."

'_What about them, Akaru? We can give you-'_

_"I said no!"_ Akaru shouted, covering her ears and hitting her knees. She tried to force everything out of her mind, concentrating on her mother's lullaby. Tears forced their way out of her tightly shut eyes and ran down her cheeks. She refused to let anything, any thought, any sound into her mind. As far as she was concerned, the world had stopped existing.

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"Is she going to be alright?"

"For the hundredth time, Kilik, I think so. Now why don't you make yourself useful and go make some tea or something?"

"But Sen-"

"_Go_, Kilik!"

Akaru groaned and forced her eyes partway open. Her head felt like she'd been hit with a sledgehammer and her mind seemed to be stuck in a fog. The details of her conversation earlier were moving slowly back into her memory, and she didn't like it any more now than she had then.

"So you're awake." An older man was standing over her, watching her. Akaru sat up on the couch she was laying on and looked around. The room looked like any American or New Zealand room, only it had rice paper walls. The floor even was covered in a pale blue plush carpet.

"Where am I?" she asked bluntly, though she got the idea that she should probably be being polite.

"The Ling-Sheng Su Dojo. You passed out just a few blocks away, and one of my students brought you here. You've only been out for about ten minutes, from what I figure. You're not diabetic or anything, are you? I didn't find a medical alert charm or anything in your wallet…"

"No, I…" Akaru bit her tongue before she went on. The man would think she was crazy if she told him. "I guess the pressure just go to me," she amended, shrugging. The man gave her an appraising look.

"You're not on drugs, are you?"

"_What!_ What kind of an idiot do you think I am!" Akaru raised her voice and jumped to her feet. The man chuckled.

"I knew you'd be fine."

"I've got the tea boiling, Sensei, I hope you're happy," a guy about Akaru's age said as he sulked back into the room. He noticed Akaru and stopped dead in his tracks. Akaru felt a blush creep up into her cheeks.

"You must be the student that brought me here. Thank you," she told him, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry to be an inconvenience to you. I really hate to impose."

"It's alright, really," the student assured her. "We could use some excitement here anyway."

"Oh, don't you start on about excitement," the older man complained, sounding as if he'd had the argument a thousand times before. "You have enough of that with your band. Which, I might add, you never thanked me for letting you skip school today to set up a gig."

"Thank you for letting me skip school todayto set up a gig for my band which gives me far more excitement than I rightfully deserve, Sensei."

The older man scowled at his student. "You're lucky your sister would kill me if I took your head off." With this, a teapot whistled in another part of the house, and the older man went off to tend to it.

"I really am sorry to intrude," Akaru started again. "My name is-"

"Ryuujin Akaru. I know. It was on your driver's license. I found it when I looked through your wallet for a card or something that would have medical information on it. I'm Sheng Kilik," the student finished for her. Akaru was lost for words. She stood there for a second, not knowing what to do. Thankfully, Kilik saved her by holding out his hand to shake. She took it, aware that he was ignoring the Japanese custom of bowing.

"So, my things..?" she asked, glancing around and not seeing them.

"Oh, yeah, I think I set them by the front door. Let me get them for you," Kilik rushed from the room, leaving Akaru to stand there and feel awkward. She glanced around the room, still surprised at how much it resembled the rooms she was used to. The only thing that was strange was a large stuffed tiger in the corner…

But _stuffed_ tigers didn't move. They especially didn't breathe.

Akaru's breath caught in her throat as she struggled to convince herself that the only reason a tiger would be asleep indoors was that it had been raised from birth in the house and it was completely tame. She slowly stepped backwards towards the door, all the while keeping her eyes on the giant cat.

"Ryuujin-san?" Akaru jumped as a hand was set on her shoulder. Kilik looked from her to the tiger and tried to cover his smile. "It's alright, Ryuujin-san. Kaji is completely tame. He wouldn't hurt a fl- well, he has hurt flies, but he wouldn't hurt a human. …On purpose. I swear."

Akaru glanced at the tiger, now awake and coming towards her. She took a step back, not noticing that she was now leaning against Kilik.

_'It's okay, Akaru. It's me. It's not just coincidence that "their tiger" has the name Kaji too.'_

Akaru didn't know whether to scream for the new voice in her head, or cry that it was her brother's.

"K- Kaji?" she stuttered, slowly lowering herself to her knees.

_'I came back, Akaru. I came to protect you.'_

"Kaji…" Akaru was crying now, much to the confusion of the young man behind her. It confused him even more when the girl who had been terrified not a full ten seconds ago threw her arms around the tiger's neck and buried her face in its fur.

"Would you like Kaji to come with us when I walk you home?" Kilik asked, his voice betraying amusement.

"Yeah, that'd be- Wait, what? When did I consent to you walking me home?" Akaru reluctantly let go of the tiger that was her brother and stood to face Kilik.

"When you passed out. I'm not going to let you go anywhere alone until I'm sure that you're alright. You don't have a choice," Kilik said bluntly. Akaru glowered at him, but was relieved to know that she would have someone with her incase that voice that called itself Nightmare came back.

"Y'know, in both New Zealand and America, the Japanese are famous for being obsessively polite. So far, I have met about three people that fit that stereotype." Akaru observed dryly.

"Does that mean I get to call you Akaru?" Kilik flashed her a smile that was a little too innocent. Somewhere in that moment, Akaru decided that she was sick of being negative. She returned his smile.

"Only if I get to call you Kilik, Sheng-san," she replied.

"Only if you come to my band's gig this weekend."

"Deal."


	4. Teaser! Probably for Chapter Five

Akaru carefully balanced the four drinks she'd already gotten out of the machine as she reached to retrieve the fifth. She cursed her luck. Despite the fact that she could beat any opponent her father had set against her at the dojo in New Zealand, she had never once won at a game of rock-paper-scissors. She had the sinking suspicion that she would be the one buying drinks at lunch from now on. At least until one of the others took pity on her.

"Ryuujin?" A voice demanded from right behind her. Akaru scowled. She was certain that she hadn't done anything to make anybody upset. Except maybe her grandmother. Still, she turned around, trying not to look like she was innocent.

"Yes?" Akaru replied, her voice polite. The girl was short, with a very haughty look about her. Her hair was short with some kind of Chinese-looking decoration in it. Akaru was very sure that she had never seen this girl before.

"Are the one that's moving in on Kilik?" Akaru was shocked. Her jaw dropped. Of all the things that she'd guessed might have been coming, that was the last.

"Who are you?" Akaru demanded, completely confused.

"Chai. Chai Xianghua." The girl leaned in; or really, stood on her toes to bring her face closed to Akaru's. "And Kilik is mine."

"I wasn't aware he had an owner." Akaru said snidely.

"You'll stay away from him." Xianghua stated, as if it were true.

"I'm not going to take orders from you." Akaru told her, a bit insulted. What gave this little girl the right to boss her around? She stepped sideways and headed toward the tree where the group had seated themselves.

"Watch your back, Ryuujin!" Xianghua shouted after her.

"Don't worry." Akaru called back cheerily. "I'm sure Kilik will watch it for me."


End file.
